Why are today’s kids voracious users of Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, text messages, etc.? Because they are so easy to use! If you randomly select ten 18-year-olds and ask them to spit out the code to create Facebook, only about 1 or 2 could do it.

[Editorial note: Remember that 52% of statistics are made up on the spot. However, check out the freshly released Pew study on internet usage to confirm if I’m in the ballpark]

My wife and I have to be careful about leaving our cell phones unguarded from our six-year-old.  It’s not that he’s going to break them, it’s that he’s so good at using them.  We found out the hard way when the monthly bill came with a hefty video game download fee.

And, let’s review his forays onto the internet.  We had to curtail the Webkinz usage and have set firm limits with espn.com. It only took once or twice of walking into the room and seeing him hunched over the laptop reviewing last night’s NBA scores and highlights, before we realized we had a fearless internet user. [For the record, my wife and I are vigilant about his internet exposure, so hold off on the calls to local law enforcement.]

Some might say, “Aren’t kids amazing on how much they know about computers!”  I have a different take on the matter.  I don’t think that age is the true barrier to today’s technology.  Instead, it’s our perception caused by our previous experiences that creates the barrier. 

That might sound like I’m splitting hairs, but I think it is a very important difference.  Of course, the older you are, the more experience you have.  But, not all experience is created equal.

The Millenials and Echo-boomers never had to trudge through learning BASIC, FORTRAN, COBOL, MS DOS, etc. just to get their computer to spew out some calculations or make a reasonable approximation of a fireworks display.  They just turn on their devices and start navigating their intuitive interfaces.

If you are among the crowd that’s been sitting on the sideline during this Web 2.0 boom, get off the bench and into the game.  You’re missing out on some fun, worthwhile stuff. You can gain a lot by erasing your painful memories of technology frustration.

Just realize that the past 30 years have brought tremendous leaps forward on how humans and computers interact.  (For some fun, trace the evolution of social networking and you’ll see that these sites are nothing but a rearrangement of how we’ve been socializing via computers.  Even better, watch this YouTube video sharing a 1994 glimpse at the Internet that John Paczkowski at All Things Digital shared on 1/27.)  

So, take on a six-year-old’s fearlessness and a teenager’s appetite for digital communications!  Otherwise, you risk missing out on the greatest thing since the Guttenberg press.

What do you think - are kids destined to rule the digital world? Or can the savvy veterans rally?

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 27th, 2008 at 11:06 pm and is filed under tips, web 2.0. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.